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Puppy scratching.. all of the time

Hi.. I have a almost 4 month shih-a-poo. She's great. She's doing really well. She's growing perfectly. She's almost 8 lbs. Very happy, lovey little puppy. We love her. The only thing is that she scratches constantly. We've checked her for fleas - she has none - (we use frontline)

Her vet said that it may be a seasonal allergy, or it could be her food. We are currently using Purina one puppy growth and development. She seems to love it. Her poops are very normal.

I don't like her scratching. She doesn't have any hot spots, and she's not scratching out her fur.

I am thinking of possibly changing her food to Chicken Soup for the petlovers soul.. puppy formula.

I know that all dog food is certainly not equal. I know that the first few ingredients should be real meat.

Do you think that a change will make a difference, or should I keep her usual.

Does your dog food have corn in it? A lot of dogs are allergic to corn. Try changing her food to something that does not have corn in it. We recently changed to Natural Balance Potato and Duck formula and my dogs LOVE it!!!

You can give her some Benydryl for the itching. I would definately check out her food. We have our cocker on a great food but she does have seasonal allergies. If we miss a dose she will start scratching. If you do use Benydryl it is 1 millogram per pound.

Look at the ingredients in both foods--even write them down. After a couple months on the new food if she's still itching look at your ingredients, is there one thing they both contain? Also look at the ingredients for her treats! I've said it before and I'll say it again, we tried multiple foods with Baxter....tried benadryl, cortisone shots, then prednisone, nothing worked completely. Finally I read something about someone else's dog being allergic to carrots! We'd been giving him baby carrots as treats. Took the carrots out of his diet and saw improvement within days, within a couple months he was much better. --Right now we're dealing with issues again and completely suspect seasonal allergies, because he's on Natural Balance potato/duck and we're super careful about anything he gets. If the kids drop ONE dorito and he got it he would chew himself raw! So we've got to be careful With Baxter we've found he has issues with wheat, corn, oatmeal, and carrots --and of course we suspect seasonal as well. <sigh> Good luck, allergies are not fun!

Definitely give Benadryl.for a wee one like yours, I would get the liquid type and give 1 teaspoon 2 times a day. Sounds like alot, but it's not. Dogs use twice the dose per pound as humans. It should stop the itching.

i have a jack russell.. she is 7 and has been scratching a lot till i put her on a anti yeast diet... no white rice,, eagle pack nat dog food and a teaspoon of garlic extract 3 times a day. green tea, bottled water , anti yeast items,, yogurt with live creatures, yeast makes allergies worse, lots on the net about yeast also.. theres alsp a anti bacterial shampoo that i use Nizoral,, it reduces fungus on the skin,, (on the shelf at a phamacy) it helps reduce scrathing also